Misunderstandings
by hopelesslyxendlessly
Summary: It's all in the title, ladies and gentlemen.
1. Chapter 1

Diane tossed her pigtail over her shoulder, smirking half-lidded in the direction of where Elizabeth was sitting between Hawk and King. "Captain, really, you're too much!" She laughed loudly as Meliodas sat beside her eyeing her curiously with a sandwich in his hands. "Diane, really? What is up with you lately? All I said is I'm eating a sandwich. Nothing funny about that, is there?" Sandwich in hand and without moving his head he caught a glimpse of a very angry looking fairy, a very happy, apparently hungry Hawk, and… he couldn't see the expression on Elizabeth's face as her long silver hair covered everything as she faced away from he and Diane. Diane just harrumphed in response and crossed her now human-sized arms, turning her face from him as well.

 _Ah, great. Why does this always happen to me?_ Meliodas thought as he sighed and then shoved the last of the turkey sandwich in his mouth and got up, brushing crumbs off of his pants and shirt. He grabbed his pack and swung it around his shoulder next to his dragon hilt.

 _Well, no time to pout I guess…_ "Alright guys, let's move out!"

"Finally, cap'n. You and the master always take sooo damn looooong to finish a meal, it's amazing that we ever get anywhere with all the sitting on our asses we do." Ban heaved himself up off of the ground where he was lying in the dirt all sprawled out in a fit of boredom. They all headed back into the Boar's Hat. "Hey, I'm a growing pig, you know! Just look at my momma!" Hawk retorted. "You don't think she got to be the incredible size she is now by watching her figure, do you?" Momma Hawk snorted happily, not taking offense but rather compliment. "Gahh… I'm just really bored, master, now come on momma pig and let's mooove already" Ban drawled.

Ban and Hawk continued their banter while the rest of the team just moved into their usual positions silently. Diane had stayed outside as the pill she had taken to make herself small was wearing off little by little. Even if she got left behind she'd still be able to catch up in no time, and besides that she was miffed and wanted the captain to know it, too. There had been an obvious tension between Diane, Elizabeth and King over the past two days and Meliodas had already had quite enough of it. It was so very bizarre, and he just wanted to ignore it like he was able to with just about everything else, but it was getting to be increasingly difficult.

King had been sulking in his Chastiefol every time Meliodas turned around, and spending an awful lot of time with Elizabeth, to his annoyance. Diane had been only interested in Meliodas for the past day and a half, relentlessly flirting and throwing herself at him, obviously vying for his attention, also to his annoyance. But the thing that was _really_ getting on Meliodas' nerves… What is _really grinding_ his gears lately is the fact that Elizabeth, his usual reprieve from the antics of the rest of those crazy sins, had been _avoiding_ him lately, and he had just about had the last straw. She wasn't looking at him straight in the eye, she'd barely spoken to him over the past two days, and it was all he could do not to just grab her shoulders and shake her to get her to tell him what on God's green planet was the matter.

Meliodas took his usual place behind the bar and started cleaning the glasses to prepare for that night's business. He turned around, looking for Elizabeth, to see her (of course) sitting beside a moping King, who had his head down on the table, resting on his arms. She was looking at him full of pity, reaching out her hand to place it on his shoulder. At that Meliodas turned back around suddenly and started cleaning the ever-loving shit out of those glasses.

"Yo, cap'n," Ban said after watching the uneventful event. "So… I don't really care what's going on between you guys but just a suggestion here." Meliodas grinned a seemingly carefree grin at Ban, though Ban could detect a glint in his eyes that said otherwise. Ban flinched, just a little, and went on. "Cap'n, why don't you just talk to her if she won't talk to you? Tell her you need her to run an errand with you or something." Ban took a swig of his nearly empty ale and reclined more in his seat when he realized that Meliodas wasn't going to jump the counter to eat his soul right at that moment. "Could you? Soon, please? It's getting to be a bit much, even for me and porky here," he thumbed toward Hawk but Hawk just looked up from his scraps and kept munching. Meliodas set down his glass and dish rag, a sudden frown donning his face as he opened his mouth to speak-

"I don't hear Diane anymore."

Everyone looked over at King as he suddenly sat up straight and looked out the window with a serious expression on his face. He looked over at Meliodas and worriedly said "I just realized I haven't heard her footsteps for a little while now, maybe 10 minutes?" Elizabeth stood and comfortingly placed her hands on King's back and shoulder. "I'm sure she must be catching up still. She was still growing when we took off." "No, you're right, King, I'm sure I haven't heard her walking for a while now. Hawk Momma, take a break!" Meliodas jumped the bar and rushed outside with King hot on his tail. Ban leisurely stood up and gulped the last of his drink before wandering outside as well.

"Oi, she's not here, and look! There's not even a single giant footprint for miles, it seems!" "This is not good…" Elizabeth heard Meliodas reply. She sat sadly in her seat at the table still, remembering her last conversation with the giantess.

 _Diane was so angry with King and me, and… it's just not alright, keeping secrets from your friends like this. Especially…_ Elizabeth glanced out the window at Meliodas and closed her eyes in shame. _...especially when it's someone you love._

Elizabeth could count on her own fingers how many secrets she has ever had and kept. She knows she's horrible at keeping them and that they tend to hurt the ones you love, which is why she begged King to just tell Diane when she accidentally found out about his secret history with her. Several hundred years he had spent with the little giantess, becoming increasingly fond of her to the point of love. He thought they'd be able to stay together, but alas all good things must come to an end, or so King had told Elizabeth. She just wanted her two friends to be able to have the happy ending that they were apparently so very close to having a long time ago. There was never any need to keep his feelings a secret from Diane, although she really didn't have any room to talk, considering her own dilemma with Sir Meliodas.

The truth of it is, Elizabeth knows in her heart that she does in fact love Sir Meliodas, no matter how much she ignores and denies it. However, all of the touchy-feely things he does to her prove that he doesn't see her as someone who is important to him. When she was shrunken with Diane at the fight festival at Vaizel, she heard Meliodas explain his feelings for Diane this way. He doesn't grope Diane or make lewd comments toward her because she is a valued comrade in arms. Applying this logic to her own relationship with Sir Meliodas, it can be safely assumed then, that he does _not_ value Elizabeth as an important friend.

So much drama and heartache within only two days, and now Diane was missing… she must have been so upset after finding Elizabeth and King in a friendly embrace, talking quietly outside the festival tents, slowly coming to her own twisted conclusion as to the true nature of their relationship. Elizabeth could only make things worse if she went after Diane, and she was certainly doing a great job of driving the invisible wedge between herself and her hero. She was certain that Sir Meliodas knows her better than anyone else by now, with the exception of her sisters. He would be able to divulge her secret without the least bit of effort, if she didn't keep her guard up and actively avoid him.

 _I suck._

Elizabeth sighed and gathered herself and her courage before heading out the door to follow the others. _It doesn't really matter if I do make things any worse than they are, if we can't bring Diane back…_ Elizabeth's mind trailed off as she didn't want to think about that possibility.


	2. Chapter 2

Birds flew every which way, frantically fleeing their homes in the trees and squawking in terror. Woodland animals scurried and galloped out of the way in fear.

 _Damn it, damn it, damn it!_

Giant footsteps wobbled this way and that as Diane stumbled through the woods, rubbing her eyes at the tears that were clouding her vision. Her heart hurt, that was for certain, but now her head was also pounding from crying. She didn't know what to think, what was making her so upset, anyways? What _exactly_? Was she upset with Meliodas because he turned her down so obviously? Was it because he did it in front of their friends?

Diane slowed down, sniffing and rubbing her face with one hand. _Damn it…_

Was it because of Elizabeth? Her best girlfriend was so obviously in love with the captain, right? And Captain is constantly teasing Elizabeth, treating her differently; those two are so obvious. So then why couldn't Elizabeth just be happy with the captain? Why'd she have to go after King, too?

Diane slowed to a stop and looked down, sniffing quietly.

 _That's not really it, is it._ It wasn't a question, it was time to face the truth and figure things out finally. Diane clutched her hands together, bringing them up to her chest. She closed her eyes.

 _I really like King…_ She held onto a mental image of King smiling at her, a beer mug in his hand. A tiny smile tugged at her lips, not enough to banish the frown. _I do like him, and I've never been so shy to admit something like that before. What's wrong with me?_ Diane kneeled down on her knees and sat on her legs, placing her hands on the ground. "It's because this time it's real." Diane let a couple more tears escape. " _This is what it feels like when it's real,_ " she whispered as she brought her head down to her knees and heaved a giant sigh.

Meanwhile, the sins were retracing their steps in hope of finding a trail to follow. With the exception of the time Diane was hiding in the Forest of White Dreams, where any knight would get lost no matter how powerful their magic, she was pretty horrible at hiding. She tended to leave some…. dare I say _giant_... trails that would lead anyone right to her.

"Diane!" King was racing down the road, searching for toppled trees or bushes, or angry creatures running for cover. If she wanted to be found she would have stayed along the road, but King knew that this was not one of those times. She wasn't just being dramatic, she was honestly hurt, he could tell. She would have taken off into the cover of the trees. He took a sharp turn on a dime when he found what he was looking for.

"Please, Diane! Please, talk to me! I just want to talk!" King was anxious, on the verge of becoming frantic. She may be a giantess but that doesn't make her invincible. What if she gets lost, or hurt, or she runs into another supposedly banished forest demon? "Please, I _need_ to talk to you Diane!" Tears were starting to well up in his eyes, though from the speed of his Chastiefol or the sick feeling in his gut he didn't know. _Please, Diane. I'm sorry._

"Hey there, little lady, could you use a lift?" Ban smirked at Elizabeth as she trotted down the road at the fastest pace she could. She was trained as a princess, after all, it's not like they'd be scouting her for the Olympics any time soon. Elizabeth just looked at Ban and nodded, too out of breath to do anything else. Ban scooped her up and onto his back in a flash. "Ban, I need to talk to Meliodas. Do you think you could catch up to him really quick?" Ban guffawed, "Really, now, princess, I wasn't exactly trying that hard to keep up with _you_ all this time. I assumed you'd realized." Elizabeth glared at Ban and scoffed with indignance. "But anyways, I wanted to ask you first, what exactly is going on with you and Old Fart lately, huh?" Elizabeth looked to the side. "It's just me, princess. If it's something you can't tell me, couldn't you at least tell cap'n?" She gripped Ban a bit tighter. "Cap'n's as tough as it gets. I'm sure he can handle whatever it is." "It's not that-!" Elizabeth caught herself from saying anything more and pushed her face into Ban's back, hiding her shame at almost spilling the beans. Ban looked over his shoulder at her. "It's alright, princess. Like I said, don't tell me, but please just let the cap'n know you're okay. Whatever it is, you'll figure it out together." He looked ahead of him at Meliodas coming into view. "I'm not one for getting all emotional, I just can't hold down a meal whenever I have to see that fake-ass grin he's been wearing lately." Elizabeth looked up at that. "Ban, what do you mean, is he not alright?" "Ahhh," Ban sighed. "Look, could you just... talk to him? Please?" Rolling his eyes, Ban quickly caught up with Meliodas, tackling him to the ground with a hard, unexpected shove to the side.

"Ban! This isn't really the time…" Meliodas trailed off as he saw Ban setting Elizabeth down. "You two, do whatever. King's got it. I'm heading back and grabbing some of that Vanya." And with that, Ban walked off in the direction of the Boar's Hat, hands in his pockets, mumbling under his breath _...always gotta be...emotional friggin...bunch of turds...can't even just talk to each other…at least_ she's _not_ dead...

Meliodas turned back to look at Elizabeth, confused, to find her staring at him with narrowed eyes. "Elizabeth, can I help you? What's wrong?" Elizabeth stared at him a second more and replied "That's what I'm trying to figure out. Are you alright? Ban said something…" Meliodas grinned an overly enthusiastic grin. "Of course I am! But feel free to check a little closer, if you want." He took Elizabeth's hand and placed it on his chest, to which Elizabeth actually pulled away for the first time ever. Meliodas looked a bit confused and dropped his head. He was still sitting on the ground where Ban pushed him down, Elizabeth kneeling beside him.

"Elizabeth, what's going on with you lately? Are you angry with me?" Elizabeth's heart nearly broke at the sight of Sir Meliodas' hollowed expression. He looked nothing like the man he was pretending to be five seconds ago. "Sir Meliodas…" He sighed and stood up, brushing himself off. "Forget it, let's just go find our friend, okay?" Meliodas replaced his serious look with an even faker grin than before and held his hand out for Elizabeth to grab. She just looked at his hand and huffed.

 _I just… I suck. Please forgive me, King._ Elizabeth grabbed Sir Meliodas' hand and pulled him down again, a bit abruptly, causing him to fall onto his knees.

"I'm keeping a secret. Sir King's secret. Or, at least I was, but I can't. Or, I guess I can't now? At least I can't with you. I'm not very good at keeping secrets anyway but I just knew I wouldn't be able to talk to you and not say anything because it's just really easy to talk to you and I know I'm easy to read…" Elizabeth stopped short when she saw Meliodas' overwhelmed expression. "I mean, I'm sorry, Sir Meliodas, but I can't tell you because it's a secret. I promised Sir King I wouldn't tell anyone." Elizabeth looked at Meliodas with a mixture of regret and hope. She hadn't spilled everything yet, maybe she could actually do this!

Meliodas looked straight into Elizabeth's eyes, from one to the other, for just a second more than Elizabeth was comfortable. "Sir Meliodas?" She felt her gut start to twist. "You've been avoiding me for the past two days because you're keeping a secret for King." Meliodas confirmed and Elizabeth nodded her head slowly. "That's right," she said. "And I didn't make you angry, but you've been stuck to King like glue for two days straight." Elizabeth's eyes widened at that. "That's not-" "And for some reason Diane seems to be really upset with both you _and_ King, but you and me are okay because I didn't make you angry." Meliodas frowned, his eyes narrowing. "Sir Melio-" Meliodas stood up. "I need to know something, Elizabeth, and I need you to tell me the honest truth." Elizabeth stood up too. "Of course, Sir Mel-" "And I'm sorry, Elizabeth, but could you please stop calling me 'Sir'? We're far past formalities, 'princess', or at least I thought we were." Elizabeth looked like she was going to cry. Meliodas saw this and toned it down, sighing and grabbing Elizabeth by her shoulders, looking into her watery eyes with an earnest expression.

"Elizabeth..." "Meliodas," Elizabeth sniffed. Meliodas wanted to smile, hearing her say his name. "Please, Elizabeth, I just want to know if you and King…" Meliodas was having a difficult time getting the question out. "Yes? If me and King… what?" Meliodas sighed. "Are you and King… together? Like… together together?" _The hell am I even saying? I don't even know what I'm saying at this point. Just… can't you just read my mind or something, Elizabeth?_

"You're asking me if I am in a relationship with Sir King, Meliodas?" Elizabeth's eyes widened further and Meliodas just nodded, searching her eyes for the truth. Elizabeth's cheeks and ears burned with embarrassment. "Oh, of course not! No, no, King is in love with Lady Diane-" Elizabeth gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. Tears welled up in her eyes and she let them drop one after another. _Oh my, King, I'm so sorry, how stupid! I knew this was going to happen! You can't trust me with anything, even something as important as this!_ Meliodas looked shocked at the sudden turn in Elizabeth's emotions. "Wait, Elizabeth, don't cry!" Meliodas looked as confused as ever. "Meliodas, you don't understand, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone and I knew I couldn't help myself with you!" Elizabeth's sobbing stopped as she looked straight at Meliodas and he held her shoulders to support her. " _That_ is what Sir King asked me to keep secret."

Her crying halted and she brushed off his hands and with a sudden burst of courage grabbed his shoulders instead. _If my dear friends can be brave enough to fight monsters and holy knights head-to-head, I should be at least brave enough to be honest about my own feelings._ Meliodas looked confused still. "But then why have you been spending so much time with King when he is in love with Diane? Which isn't exactly a secret by the way." "Because Diane saw me embracing Sir King at Vaizel. I was comforting him after he told me about his feelings for Diane. It was beautiful, how passionate and straightforward he was." Elizabeth pulled herself closer, setting her head on Meliodas' chest. He wrapped his arms around her head. "It's a lot easier to talk about how much you feel for someone when they're not around to hear it." Meliodas pulled back then and Elizabeth looked up at him.

"Elizabeth…"


	3. Chapter 3

"Diane!"

Diane looked up from the ground at the familiar voice. _King._ She gave a little, tearful smile.

"King." She said just loudly enough for King to pick up on. King flew into the little clearing Diane made within seconds. Upon seeing her, safe and sound, all the tiny little unused muscles within him relaxed. _Oh, thank heavens_. He floated down to face her.

"Diane, are you alright? You didn't get hurt, did you?" Diane looked away and shook her head. "No." "Diane, listen, I know why you ran." Diane's head snapped in his direction. "Do you? Could you please tell me, because I don't think I do…" More tears. "Diane…" King's heart lurched.

Shaking his head he floated to the ground and walked closer. "Diane, I know you saw Elizabeth and I at Vaizel, and I have a feeling you may already know how I feel about you." King's face turned a bit pink at the open confession. Diane didn't speak, but gave King her full attention. "Diane, I don't want to scare you or push you away. It's difficult for me to tell you this… I'm really embarrassed admitting this to you…" He scratched the back of his head and Diane turned to fully face him. She, too, was pink realizing where this conversation was heading. It was true she understood that King was interested in her. At least, she thought she understood until the Vaizel festival incident. Does this mean she hadn't been misreading signs, then? _Thank goodness, because I thought he was being really obvious all this time! I started to doubt myself._

"Diane, I have loved you since before you met King." _I'm gonna admit that's not exactly what I was expecting him to say…_

"King? What do you mean by that?" Diane was completely confused, and for good reason. "Diane, you knew me when I was Harlequin, King of the Fairies. I made you forget. I'm sorry." King looked down slightly with shame. "We've spent hundreds of wonderful years together, you and I. I made you forget that, and I'm sorry, but I've never stopped loving you." Diane looked at King, shocked but understanding. "Harle..quin… That name sounds familiar." "Diane, I need you to understand that I made you forget for your protection." Diane smiled at King and he was suddenly feeling lighter than air, the weight of such a long-kept secret gone in an instant.

"Diane, I do love you. What you saw at Vaizel, that was just a misunderstanding, I promise. Don't be mad." King floated up to meet Diane face-to-face. "King, honestly, as long as you love me, I don't care what happened." He didn't know if she meant that she didn't care about Vaizel, or that she didn't care about his transgressions of the distant past, erasing her memories and leaving her to forget him. He didn't really care, though, because he knew that even if she can't admit it out loud yet, today's events prove how much Diane was effected by the thought of him loving anyone else but her. Diane set out her hand for King to set himself down and brought him close to her face. He kissed her on her cheek and they both beamed brightly at one another. Diane blushed as she felt her pocket for another shrinking pill. _If I'm going to have a proper first kiss with the man I…_ Diane blushed at the thought. _Oh my, and I never even told him I…_

"I love you too, King."

"Elizabeth…"

"I need you to understand something, Meliodas." Elizabeth took a deep breath and relaxed in the helpless position she'd taken within the arms of her hero. Meliodas continued to softly stare down at her, expectantly. "I am always going to be the weakest member of the Seven Deadly Sins, and-" "No one e-" "Meliodas, let me finish," Elizabeth's voice rang with regal command and Meliodas merely lifted an eyebrow and remained silent thereafter. Elizabeth sighed. "I know what I'm saying. I've taken a lot of time to think about this. Please listen to what I have to say first." Meliodas nodded his head and Elizabeth continued.

"Well, to answer you honestly, when you asked me about why I've been spending so much time with King, it was because I just couldn't seem to muster the courage to talk to you. You see, King, and you, and all of the Sins… You're all very brave and powerful." Meliodas smirked and rolled his eyes but kept his lips sealed. "There's no place I feel safer than with you, though, Meliodas." The casual, flirty atmosphere between the two suddenly got quite serious. "I really admired King for admitting his feelings for Diane aloud, even just to me, after so much time spent keeping everything to himself, hiding it from her, even though he thought it was to protect her. I've been keeping everything I feel a secret because I don't know how to deal with it, or what to make of it… I just, after seeing King, who's so powerful in battle… and yet when he…with Diane..." Elizabeth put a hand to her mouth, stopping to compose herself again. She could see the bottom of Meliodas' face, a light pink blush donning his neck and cheeks so she knew he was starting to understand, but his eyes were hidden by ragged blond hair.

"What I'm trying to say is that-" I can be brave, too.

She was cut off mid-sentence when Meliodas brought his lips down to meet hers.

The princess and her knight slowly broke their kiss. Meliodas grabbed the back of Elizabeth's head gently and brought her forehead to his, both of them hiding their pink, grinning faces. "I'm sorry, Elizabeth, I just always imagined it would be me having this conversation with you. You really caught me off guard." Elizabeth looked up at Meliodas, straight in the eye. "I love you, Meliodas." His grin grew two sizes as he captured Elizabeth's lips again.

Back at the Boar's Hat, Hawk's chin rested on the windowsill as he stared out the window, bored and starting to get worried.

"Ban, why'd you leave them all out there to look for Diane by themselves? They would find her a lot faster if they had another pair of eyes, and then they'd come home faster too…" and make me food… Hawk trailed off. "Master," Ban slurred, "if they can't spot a thirty-foot giant girl wearing hazmat suit yellow from head toe-er, butt," Ban giggled, "then I wouldn't count on them finding their way back home any time soon either." Ban was sprawled out along the length of the bar, beer mug in hand, sideways, Vanya spilling all over the place.

"You know Meliodas is gonna be pissed, right? You're the one he's gonna make clean it up before we open for business tonight." "I highly doubt that, piggy." He called me piggy? "At least not today, and I intend to fully take advantage of Cap'n's temporary sickness as soon as, uh, like, twenty minutes ago," drunken Ban attempted to count the minutes on his hand to no avail. "You've only been back seven minutes, Ban! How on earth are you already drunk? Can't you hold it a bit longer than that at least?" Ban reached for the bottle of Vanya that was sitting on a table just out of reach, *Ka-thunk* and rolled off the bar and onto the floor. Hawk was surprisingly unimpressed. "Ahh… that was a dumb question, I guess."


End file.
